Autumn and Danny - Pain, Pride, and Power

Story by ShazraRabbit on SoFurry

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A skunk finds her ex best friend, wretched and suffering, and encourages change.


WARNING: Drug and alcohol use, drug addiction content.

Winter in the city, in this case December, was generally a mess. Undesirable conditions such as nonstop downpouring of rain, a dark gloomy atmosphere, and sleet (about as much snow as the area ever got) were a nearly absolute feature in this section of the country. While making for some delightfully cozy times indoors, it got old fairly quickly for most of the inhabitants. Though it was getting to that point, the holidays had a way of perking the general spirit of the population and granting a reprieve from the effects of the season.

Autumn Syden, a 32 year old skunk, was slowly wandering down the sidewalk. Her attire was a black and red striped sweater and some crimson colored jeans. She was returning from the stores, where she had just finished up her holiday gift shopping, and was mindfully taking in the experience. The brightly colored lights sparkling, flashing, and changing colors, the sounds of pattering rain mixed with the music of the season, the smells of delicious treats and mint flavored drinks, and the chill in the air that was occasionally and momentarily overtaken by blasts of heat flooding out of the front doors to some buildings, all culminated in the uniquely winter sensation. A perfect feeling of contentment flooded her with warmth and joy and spread a beautiful smile across her face.

Her vehicle, a rather generic and humble purple minivan, was parked several blocks from where she currently was, and much further than the businesses she had purchased the presents from. The times outside like this were always thoroughly enjoyed. As Autumn neared her car and prepared to load up her goods, something seized her attention in a wave of concern.

From the alley adjacent to the business she had parked in front of, she heard the sound of glass breaking followed by a quick and agitated, "FUUCKK!!!!" This was immediately followed by, "AAAaaaammmpphhhhhhh.." This struck Annie as someone intentionally muffling a yell of distress. After the initial shock faded and a quick contemplation of the circumstances was made, the next steps were to quickly drop her things in her van and investigate to see who seemed to be in need of help.

Following the first part of the plan, Autumn hurriedly jogged in the direction of whoever and whatever it was that had so deeply gripped her attention. Having also retrieved an umbrella, it was popped open with a metal on metal sound and a flapping noise, since she had no idea how long this situation may take. The cautious skunk woman slipped quietly into the alley, which was poorly lit and full of random trash, dumpsters, and garbage cans lining the edges. For a short time it was eerily silent, with only the pats and splashes of raindrops making contact with the ground and collected puddles. Once at the middle of the area, the sounds of almost whimpering, sniffing, and groaning entered her ears.

"..He...hello..?" No response.

"Is there someone back here..? I heard someone sounding upset.. is everything okay..?" After this, the echo of a quick cough to clear the throat made it apparent that she would be receiving a reply.

A broken, hopeless voice made a presence, "Uhh.. no. I mean, yeah... All good.." A noisier sniffling rang out. Both noises gave Autumn a fairly accurate sense of the direction the unknown, hurting being. Intrigued and worried, she stealthily crept her way towards the location. It became apparent that the person was tucked away between two dumpsters.

With some degree of trepidation, she peered around the corner of the dark green container at the source of a variety of noises. Slumped against the outer wall of the convenience store side of the alley was a dark, shadowed figure with his knees pulled up into his chest and his sweater hood pulled up over his head. As Autumn took in the image, she could see that the man's clothes were quite wet from the rain. A small pile of shattered glass lay beside the currently anonymous man, but was deemed unimportant for the moment. With an uncommonly high level of care in her voice she once again asked, "Hey.. Are you really okay..? I uhh.. get the feeling you're having a rough day."

The pained man reflexively looked up and over to the suspiciously kind woman. As his eyes locked onto her face, they instantly dropped as his breath visibly caught in his chest and an almost horrified look was painted on his own face. With thick tension saturating his words, he managed to force out, "Y... no... ugh sorry. No, I'm not doing that great and yes, I'm having a really hard day..." Shaking his head briefly in disbelief at the unintentional honesty, he followed by dropping it back down to keep his face obscured.

As the truth was disclosed to her, Autumn stepped slowly around the dumpster and over to whoever it was in front of her. After kneeling down next to the subject of her focus, her hand extended out with a deliberately low pace while she kept a keen eye for any sign of resistance or lack of consent. There was a sense that the creature before her simultaneously had both a desire and an aversion to the idea and offering of physical contact, but in the absence of rejection gave the impression that it was going to be alright. The skunk's hand was gently placed on his shoulder, and he first flinched away thenleaned into it as slightly as could be perceived.

The black and white furred woman shifted her eyes off to the side in thought. 'Gosh... that voice.. I feel like I know it from somewhere..' Her attention returned to the matter at hand and sweetly stroked the stranger's arm in a comforting manner. Compassion flowed through her question, "Care to share? It's good to let things out to someone else sometimes."

The increasingly wet man huffed out a tiny sigh, "No... I can't. I just can't.. thanks though.." He hid himself a little bit deeper into his hood as his anxiety and apparent shame swelled in his mind and heart.

Annie slid her hand up the dampened shoulder and reached for the hood of the mysterious and increasingly familiar person. "Well.. can I at least see who I'm talking to..?" The sensation of a firm grip around her wrist seemed to set down the answer to her inquiry. She startled, mostly inside herself, and froze momentarily. As she did, Autumn took in the sight of the hand around her arm. It was white, with grey and black splotches marking his fur. Curious, and once again triggering some sense of a memory just out of reach. Returning from the depths of her mind, she was graced with the awareness of his loosened hold on her and what seemed to be the most minimal of an encouraging pull of permission.

The semi soaked fabric was between her fingers and was pushed back at a snails pace in order to give the one Autumn was now accompanying plenty of opportunities to revoke his consent. It seemed he had resigned and committed himself to following through with allowing the revealing of his face. With wild anticipation, she finally uncloaked the man and attempted to take in the sight and his features. The light was dim and at an angle, plus his head was down, then the man looked up to her while avoiding all eye contact.

It took several seconds of studying the newly unblocked face of a Painted Dog before she realized why she felt so strangely connected. "Dan.... Danny..?? Is..are... Is that you..?" Danny weakly nodded before looking back down and away to distance himself from the uncomfortable feelings ripping through him to his core.

The skunk's tail whipped around rapidly in surprise and shock. In a city of just under 360,000, it was rather rare to encounter someone you knew unless you lived in the same small area. And this was in an *alley* of all places. Massive waves of confusion and upset crashed over her as she attempted to make sense of what was currently unfolding around her. The voice that emerged from her mouth was seasoned with a light tremble, "Hey, uhh... hi.? What are you doing back here, in the rain and cold..? What, uhh.. I haven't seen you in such a long time!"

The canine, now known to be a long lost friend, had a habit of joking in reflex to discomfort. "Oh, you know.. livin' in up! I'm actually just trying to get sick for a college science project. Heh." Danny felt his face patted by an all too familiar hand and couldn't resist looking back up, still maintaining his lack of eye contact.

Autumn sighed, partly from nostalgia of his deeply missed attempts at uncomfortable humor and partly out of sadness at his attempt to cover the truth. A pained chuckle pushed it's way out of her lungs, "Heh. Well, that hasn't changed much, has it? I'm serious though. What's going on? I haven't seen you in such a long time! It's good to see you! Why are you back here in the wet and cold? Are you stranded or something? Can I take you home or..?" Her skunky face twisted in pain as her heart squeezed in her chest out of immeasurable worry at her old friend's current situation.

Danny winced at all of the questions that reminded him of his life as it currently was. He had been living on the streets for quite some time and was beyond ashamed of that particular fact. Quietly he mumbled, just loud enough to be heard and understood, "Oh, I umm. It's good to see you too. Oh no, I just needed a place to stop and rest for a while or whatever... thanks though." An audible gulp of anxiety clicked in his throat as he once again attempted to withhold the reality of his life from someone he held dear in his younger years.

"Dude. Come on. Lemme take you home. Where are you staying at? My car is *right* over there. It's no problem at all! We could catch up and stuff." Autumn's face lit up with hope that she could potentially be reunited with one of her best friends.

The colorful dog swallowed deeply again before choking out, "Ughh... You can't because..." He groaned as he uncontrollably spoke the truth, something he was quite unaccustomed to, "Because I'm staying here..." The man's head dropped, crushed in hopelessness, shame, and defeat as he broke into tears.

Being in such a state of shock had kept her oblivious to what was completely obvious. While taking in Danny's extreme vulnerability, Autumn absorbed enough information to realize that the painted dog was not only wet, but his jeans and sweatshirt were visibly torn and ragged looking. In addition, all he had in his possession was a grungy, well used backpack. A sharp pain shot through her chest in agony and she rushed forward to embrace her oldest of friends. Autumn had an unbelievable capacity for empathy, and it made itself known by shaping the tone of her words, "Oh Danny.... Not tonight you're not. Come on. You're coming with me, you'll stay at my place tonight, alright?"

The gesture of care and affection overwhelmed Danny, causing him to sob uncontrollably. For too long, he had been met with mostly disinterest, avoidance, or disdain by others. He allowed himself to be held in silence, aside from the rain and light amount of traffic and his shuddering breathing. Despite his stubbornness and pride and in a moment of resignation and desperation, he sniffled and murmured, "Oh... yeah okay..." Astounded by his uncharacteristic willingness, the younger of the two could really only manage to wrap his hand with Autumn's to receive assistance with getting up.

Groaning filled the alley as Danny's sore and exhausted body flared in pain. The skunk made sure to keep her umbrella covering her companion, preventing him from becoming even more wet than he already was. A cheerfulness made an appearance as she joked, "Good! I wasn't looking forward to taking you against your will, but I would have." Having said her piece, she followed by glancing at Danny and winking. Her arm draped over her friend's shoulder and pulled him closer as she led him to her vehicle. Gazing off to the side in thought, she sighed and contently stated, "I've missed you, Danny."

Danny allowed his best friend in youth guide him to her purple minivan. They loaded up his belongings in the middle seats before sliding the door shut and hopping in the front seats. The ride to Autumn's was actually rather silent. The cold and wet had caught up to the canine, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. The vehicle's heater was turned on, and he was allowed to adjust and try to warm up. Danny simply stared out the passenger side window, caught up in a whirlwind of emotions and trying to appreciate the opportunity to warm up and to have somewhere indoors to sleep for once.

After about 15 minutes, the two arrived at the apartment complex and parked in the assigned space. With synchronized sighs, the two looked to each other and momentarily met eyes before shyly averting. The sign of at least a tiny bit of lessened anxiety and uncomfortable uncertainty in the colorful dog made a slight smile lift the corners of Autumn's muzzle. Both companions gathered their belongings and trudged their way up to the third floor to apartment 33. They wiped their feet on the mat in the hallway and slipped inside.

With a welcoming spirit that Danny had rarely heard, at least for a long time, Autumn guided him into her home, "Make yourself at home! Can I get you anything?" She assessed the situation at hand and her friend's condition and continued, "Ah! Let's get you a shower. I'll make some food, okay?"

Taking in the surroundings and shifting around uneasily while entering the apartment, Autumn's guest quietly replied, "That's fine, yeah.." He slung his backpack back around and realized it was soaked to the point that he knew that the few clothes contained within were guaranteed to also be too wet to wear. Besides, they were dirty and already worn and could absolutely need a washing. Not used to making requests, Danny weakly asked while blushing beneath his fur, "I umm... could I maybe, like... ugh. I need some clean clothes. Everything I have is soaked.. Could I borrow some of yours or something..? I'm sorry.. Just until we wash mine? I just need some sweats and a sweatshirt, if that's okay."

Autumn felt a twinge of pain at the sight of how upset and ashamed Danny was with himself. She dropped her things and hugged him as tightly as she could and whispered in his slightly rounded ears, "Shhh. It's okay. You're not imposing. I invited you hear because I care. Don't worry about anything right now. You and I are gonna have a lovely night, like we used to when we were kids! Go get showered and warmed up. I'll put some clothes in the bathroom when you're in there and then get dinner started."

Danny shivered in part from the cold and partly from holding back the hurricane of emotions threatening to collapse him if it grew any larger. Following a sharp throat clear, the canine nodded and mumbled in agreement before hurriedly shuffling past his skunk pal and into the clearly visible open bathroom that has also been pointed out. Having stepped inside and accidentally shutting the door a bit too hard, he took in the scenery as he undressed in preparation for an increasingly anticipated shower. While his keen ears took note of Autumn busying herself with meal prep, which was mostly drowned out once the fan was switched on, he noticed that there was a bit of clutter on the counter. Quite a few products and items lay out, and the laundry basket was slightly overfilled. Aside from those observations, the place was rather clean and tidy. A dull thump filled the area as his backpack fell from his shoulder and plopped onto the floor.

Dropping down onto the cold, hard tile, Danny sat on his knees and pulled his belongings from the bag. All of his clothes were put into a pile on the floor then, after removing some other items from his pack and stashing them in the cupboards beneath the sink, he tossed his drenched bag on top of the pile. With the hot water turned on and cranked up, steam occupied the entire walled in area swiftly and before long the grungy street dog was gratefully positioned right under the heavy spray. His head dropped down, this time out of genuine relaxation and even slight contentment, and his eyes slightly lidded open to see the dark colored water swirling around and down into the drain. He knew he was dirty, but had never really seen this before and felt a mixture of embarrassment and happiness.

While the canine fell into a kind of trance during the cleanse, Autumn had gone for the easy, less objectionable meal option. She always kept a frozen pizza or two in the refrigerator for situations like this or when she felt too lazy or tired to make anything else. A simple cheese pizza slid onto the middle rack in the oven and the timer was set for 23 minutes. The skunk took a few moments to appreciate the opportunity to have her old best friend in her life, if even for the moment. She also felt a bit of stress due to not knowing exactly what was going on with him, and only going off of gossip from many years ago, before he went off the radar. Certainly things to raise concerns, but opportunities to perhaps redirect his, and their, trajectories.

Next up was to gather up something for Danny to wear, so she wandered into her room and sorted through her dresser and drawers. A sudden, sharp laugh burst forth as she selected her all pink sweats/hoodie combination with the word "BITCH" on the ass and back of the sweatshirt. The outfit was purchased as a joke and had brought her and others some amusement since obtaining them, especially because Autumn was just about as sweet as could be. Plus, despite their age difference, they had become friends early on and were quite close and had frequently had their fun trying on outfits together when at her house. Waves of nostalgia swept over her and she found herself grinning ear to ear. Following the selection for her buddy, she made her own for comfy nightwear, sleek and soft pajama pants and top in a shiny silken black color.

Meanwhile, Danny had scrubbed up once the water flowing off into the drain had turned clear. Following the rinsing of suds from his body, he carefully massaged in a liberal quantity of conditioner and stepped from the spray just in time to pick up the noise of his friend entering briefly. "Hey Danny, I'm leaving some clothes here on the counter, alright?" The slick, conditioner saturated canine replied, "Oh okay. Thanks Autumn. I'll be out in probably five or ten minutes." Happily, Autumn responded, "No rush! I have a pizza in the oven, and it has probably 15 or so minutes to go. See you soon!" With that, the shuffling and rustling noise of his few belongings being removed occurred before the door clicked and thumped closed, concluding their quick interaction.

After allowing the fur product the time to fully do its job, the dog hopped back into the water and worked to comb it out of his fur and rinse thoroughly. The whole process took roughly 12 minutes until he was stepping out of the shower, with the towel wrapped around him. He toweled off, getting as dry as he could, and then used the powerful blow dryer equipped in all households. The result was him being an absolute fluffball that he countered by once again combing the fur, creating a coarse stroking sound, to tame the wildness from it. Prepared at last, the outfit laid out for him made it's presence known as his eyes were assaulted with the vibrant pink. The first real smile he had made in months broke out on his muzzle when he realized precisely what his friend had pulled. As soon as he slipped on the unbelievably comfortable loaner clothes, he heard the high pitched beeping of the microwave's kitchen timer, indicating that dinner was ready.

The instant Danny popped out, closing the door behind him so that the fan left running could deal with the accumulated steam, the strong smell of mouthwatering pizza flooded his powerful canine nostrils. He padded his way over to the kitchen and found Autumn pulling the food from the oven, squinting her eyes and turning her head slightly as the heat of the oven blasted her in the face. Danny chuckled and commented, "You know, you don't *HAVE* to grab it right away, right?"

Autumn finished taking the pizza out, placing it carefully down on top of the counter. When she turned around, she made sure that it was noticed when she rolled her eyes sarcastically, "You shush, or you get NONE!" She gave a soft, affectionate smile that communicated her care and happiness.

The street hardened doggo's heart softened at the tender display directed at him, the exact opposite kind of attention he was accustomed to. Emotions swelled inside him and his eyes welled up with tears. Not wanting to any of it out, he managed to stifle most of it. Danny's voice cracked a little bit as his attention was redirected towards the food, "Ooof, harsh man. Heh. My bad! Ugh... thank you so much for making dinner. I really appreciate it!" It was a risky move, it terms of potentially unleashing the maelstrom inside, but he moved towards Autumn and embraced her tightly. A new strength had built, simply from receiving care and feeling clean for once. It wasn't so much that he *never* got to wash up, but he only was able to manage a lightning quick shower with terribly cheap soap and unsafe or less than clean sleeping arrangements.

Autumn could feel an unbelievable gratitude conveyed in the hug caused her to tear up, leaving a couple streaks to roll down her face and a wild smile to spread across her face. She sniffled and could tell it was pushing Danny in that direction. It was quite obvious he wasn't comfortable enough yet, so she softly terminated the hug and silently gestured at the food. "Ahem... oh! No problem! I'm happy to. I'm just really glad to have you over again. Come on, serve up and let's hang out on the couch like we used to. If that's alright."

Strangely enough, Danny found himself much more comfortable than he initially imagined he would. It was almost like the were at least back to friends a little bit, and it was surprisingly pleasant. Sniffing enthusiastically, the worn down man moved his shaggy black and white hair out of his face and cut the pizza before placing two slices onto a place and moving onto the long dark black couch. As soon as his rear hit the soft, cushiony furniture, he released an almost sexual sounding sigh/moan. The last time he had been on something comfortable was years prior to this moment. As he sank into his spot with a plate of good food cooked by his old best friend, his worries, at least for the moment, faded far away.

When Autumn returned to the living room, no time was wasted in taking her seat an immediately scooting over until she was leaned up against her painted dog companion, placing her head onto Danny's shoulder. It came to her attention that Danny was unsettled by this and it actually amused Autumn. Unable to hold back, she blurted with a giggle, "Oh please! I said we were gonna hang like we used to, and this is how we did, so just chill dude. Hehe." With this, she made it a point to snuggle up just a bit more.

There was no point in resisting, not that Danny really wanted to. He had just been caught off guard with how they were immediately returning to their old level of intimacy. In their youth they had quite physically close, never sexual or romantic but shared lots of cuddling and touching in a platonic manner. With a lightly nervous vibe in his voice he responded with, "Heh. I'm sorry, I'm just not used to this and it's been so long since we were last together." He paused and closed his eyes to immerse himself into the experience, taking in the sensations of her body against his and the wonderful smell of her perfume. "Ahhh.... y'know.. this is nice. Better than nice! I'm actually pretty happy." His head tilted his head towards her and rested on hers and he lit up inside. The sweet tone of her voice graced his cute rounded ears, "I'm so glad. Thank you for letting me take you in. How are you feeling?"

Danny took a deep breath and let it out slowly then proceeded to speak with a small amount of contentment in a sleepy way, "You're welcome, but I should be the one thanking you instead. I really appreciate this, more than I can express... how I'm feeling? I'm exhausted. Kinda good. But.... would it be okay to maybe just have a quiet night?" The skunk lifted her head and looked him in the eyes, nodding happily and returning to her previous place. The two had always been able to spend time in silence. They just loved each other's company. "Thanks Autumn. I... I love you." Many years had passed since they had gotten to share their feelings for each other, so Danny felt a little off in saying those words. The uncertainty in him was unnecessary since she replied, "I love you too, Danny. I've missed you."

Both devouring their meal with great enthusiasm, they soon placed their plates on the black and grey stone topped coffee table in front of the couch. Setting those away allowed the pair to lie down together on the couch as they put one of their favorite animated shows they absolutely loved to watch. Danny fell asleep before long, with Autumn wrapped up in his arms as she stayed up. His soft breathing and touch brought her back to their past and instilled a powerful sense of well being and relaxation.

A while later, about 10:45 p.m., it felt like a good time to turn in for the night. Autumn removed her friend's arms from around her and sat up. She then laid her hand on his upward facing shoulder and gently shook him until his eyes fluttered open and focused on her. "Hey, sleepy head. I'm gonna go to bed. Come on. Umm. Unless you really wanna spend the night on the couch. I hope that's not the case, but if you want it's fine with me."

Danny weakly groaned as he started to feel a growing pain in his body and felt generally a little unwell, information which he decided to withhold for now. He shook his head and yawned and commented, "Okay, that sounds nice." He recalled something she had said earlier about her taking him against his will, so he half joked, "Although... you were gonna make me anyways, weren't you? Heheh." Autumn only smirked and used her head to gesture in the direction of her bedroom.

The beautiful skunk led the groggy man into her room, momentarily bursting out a giggle about the outfit she had her friend wearing. The freshly groomed dude hardly even registered the noise and was mostly enjoying some nice company and the prospect of a real bed and someone to cuddle up to for the night. After crawling under the covers and getting situated, Autumn was asleep within ten minutes, but Danny remained awake this time, feeling restless and starting to sweat as he felt slight hot and cold waves along with the general achiness having grown more unpleasant. He intentionally remained in place for about an hour, an uncomfortably long feeling hour.

Just about the stroke of midnight, he attempted to slip out of bed unnoticed and swung his legs over the edge and planted his feet on the cold hardwood flooring. He felt he would make it out without waking his bedmate but as soon as his rump left the bed he picked up her sluggish and nearly slurred sleep voice, "Hey. What's up? You need anything?" Danny cringed a bit and quickly gave her a prepared answer in case this happened, "Oh yeah. I'm just gonna grab something to eat and drink and I'll be right back." His upper body twisted around so he could lay his hand on her sweet, loving face. When her eyes closed, he felt relief and resumed his mission.

Silently padding his way into the kitchen, he grabbed a slide of pizza and heated it in the microwave just a tiny bit while he filled a glass of water and chugged it and refilled it. Next, his order of business was to search the drawers for some aluminum foil which he found and used to wrap the rest of the meal and place it into the refrigerator. Prior to returning the foil to it's assigned space, Danny snagged a bit of it and folded it up into the pouch of the loaner hoodie. Grabbing and carrying the food and drink he had prepared, he stopped off in the bathroom and temporarily set the items down on the cluttered surface of the counter. At this point he dropped on his knees and pulled out the things he had stashed away under the sink.

What Danny pulled out from being hidden was a regular sized baggie containing a straw, two smaller baggies, a lighter, a spoon and several syringes. See, the reason he had struggled with homelessness was because he had been deep in drug addiction for quite some time at this point. This fact was also the reason why he was now feeling more and more ill, it had been a while since his last fix and it was actually what he was in the middle of doing in the alley when Autumn came across him. The shattering sound that resulted in the tiny pile of glass next to him was a pipe that he had fumbled. Currently, simply seeing and holding his kit was already making him feel better in anticipation of actually getting well again.

The two substances that had a vicelike grip on his very core were methamphetamine and heroin. His preferred method of use for each substance was to smoke his speed and then inject the skag, in that particular order. The possibility of overdose while injecting opiates is something he was well aware of and that his stimulant use was precautionary in case he got a unexpectedly hot batch, which is typically how other users he knew passed away from. It wasn't guaranteed that the stimulant would prevent such an occurrence, but it had saved him in the past. Plus obviously it was something he had enjoyed enough in the past to get completely hooked on.

The relatively young addict felt that, before long, the muscle restlessness would make a heavier appearance and it rushed him along. Opening the bag, he removed the crystalline chemical, the straw, the lighter, and the thin aluminum sheet from the pocket of his borrowed sweatshirt. The foil was unfolded and flattened on the counter, the baggie opened, and a large shard was placed on the metal. When he finally picked up the substance, now prepared to use, he lifted his head and accidentally caught his image in the mirror and took it in in detail while combining the visual information with his situational position.

Self loathing was stoked and burned with unbearable heat from the thoughts racing through his mind and the emotions ravaging his inner world. A self directed growl preceded the thoughts, "Fuck!! I hate this... I hate you.. I hate this shit.. why... why can't I just be okay here? Why do I *have* to do this..? ughhhhhh... You're really going to do this at your old besties place... when she's so sweet and amazing and took you in... you're fucking horrible...." He abused himself with the type of thoughts that had plagued him for far too long. He desperately wanted it all to stop, he didn't want to do this anymore, but he didn't know how. At the same time, the feelings he was having were so torturous, so unbearable, so terrifying that he teared up and began crying. In that moment, he chose to make that stop instead of facing it all.

Turning around to hide from the reality of everything, he lifted the straw and delicately placed it between his lips just before positioning the butane device under the surface the crystal was resting on. Just wanting to get it over with, the flame was ignited and the substance began to melt into a liquid and vapor rose from the puddle. Danny's focus was sharp and the vapor was expertly collected into the tube and inhaled. On the exhale, a massive white cloud flowed out like dragon's breath. The process was repeated quite a few times and, to his relief, he started to feel quite a bit better. His senses became ultra crisp and his heart rate ramped up. Tingling spread over his skin and up his spine, culminating in an intense rush blossoming into his head. Now that he was fairly wide awake, there was no way he could return to bed with Autumn though until he got around to administering the strong sedating chemical.

As progress was made and he neared the end with likely only three or four more hits, he inhaled a particularly massive lung full. As soon as he proceeded to release it, Autumn walked into the bathroom. In a sleepy haze, she had absently opened the door without thinking about her guest, whom she had momentarily forgotten about, or the possibility of him occupying the room. The door had also been left unlocked, allowing it to swing open freely.

What the skunk saw when the door opened was the plume of vapor that was so thick, white, and huge that it blocked both of them from seeing the other for a couple of seconds that stretched into infinity for the now shocked and panicking dog outfitted in pink. Autumn was still too out of it to even comprehend the novel image being fed into her eyes, which left her mostly blinking in the light and squinting while gaining her ability to process information again. Having analyzed what she could, and still not quite piecing things together (simply because she was not prepared for this and being unable to believe it in the moment. She was not naive about substances.) Her words clumsily fell from her muzzle, "I.. hey.. what... uhhsorry, I should have knocked.. what...." Before she finally trailed off.

Deeply troubled and overflowing with guilt and shame, Danny rapidly waved the smoke/vapor away and stuttered, "I...i..i... I'm so fucking sorry Autumn... I didn't want to... didn't mean...." There was a pregnant pause in between statements. The way he spoke next was broken, resigned, and quiet, "I... I'll go.. I'm.. thanks for at least trying with me... Is my stuff dry? Ah.. doesn't matter, I'll just give this back and take mine and head out.." Having said everything he was capable of, another overwhelming rush of self hatred and guilt pounded him, causing his hands to fly to his face. They tensed and clenched, gripping the fur of his face, weaving it through his fingers and pulling harshly in an act of painful distraction and anxious stimming. The gravity of his actions and the consequences of such pulled him into leaning over the counter, pulling harder at himself. Danny desperately wished for the strength to get up and leave but realized the immobilization currently locking him in place as he groaned in agony.

During the man's breakdown, Autumn's thinking had ramped up nearly to her typical sharpness and the situation had been processed fairly in full. Her friend's experience stabbed straight to her core. The degree of empathy was overwhelming and it pained her deeply to see someone she still loved wholeheartedly be in such a state. Her feet made no noise as she slipped up behind him. Danny jumped when her hand landed upon his back and the tension was physically apparent as she stroked up and down. The thoughts came to mind much more clearly as she inquired, "Hey now... shhhh.. look. I've heard things on occasion. I knew it was possible. I wanted to see how things were though. How things would turn out. You just said you didn't want to, and didn't mean to. Is that how you truly feel..?"

A feeble nodding exhibited his agreement to what he had been asked, and sniffling filled the resonant room. "And... is that how you feel outside of being here with me..?" A little dual pat rang out as a pair of tears fell and splattered against the counter below his face, while he again barely managed to shake his head up and down. The freshly disclosed information into her friend warmed her with a degree of delight and relief. Perhaps she could have her best friend again! She had one more question for the moment and her love colored it into a display of deep affection, "Will you get help? I'll have your back one. hundred. percent. if it's something you want, we will figure it out, alright?"

Danny's entire body tensed and shivered in response to the unexpected compassion that he found himself on the receiving end of. With a cracking voice that spoke after he swallowed hard, causing a clicking gulping sound, and spoke with a hard tremble, "Yes! I want that.. Does... does that mean I can stay here tonight..? There's more to talk about, but maybe we can pick it back up in the morning? It's some pretty major stuff and might take a while. I'd also like to get some sleep. Ughh... I'm sorry.. I don't wanna make you feel like I'm saying this just get to stay longer.. I've hated this life for so long... I'm desperate.." Crying reverberated as he broke into sobs and finally planted his face firmly onto the surface he was propping himself up with.

The exhibition of raw, untamed, and honest emotion touched Autumn's very soul and so much of her concerns, her fears, her desire to have Danny back, all flooded up and some of the negative feelings flowed out in relief. What her favorite canine had shared felt absolutely genuine, and she was quite gifted at determining truth and bullshit. Purely out of instinct, Autumn leaned down and hugged him from behind, holding tight and nonverbally sharing her feelings while her own streams of salty solution fell down onto the man's back. A quick whisper directed into the round ears, "Yes, honey. It's okay. If you're gonna do this, you have nothing to worry about. You know I know bullshit, so if that's the case I can't do it. But what I heard was the truth. I've got you Danny. I've missed you."

Unbelievable relief surged through Danny as he continued allowing his outpouring expression of emotions as a world's worth of weight was lifted from his weary shoulders. Accompanying this feeling was turbo charged rushing and his speedy intoxication lit up his whole being. A bad feeling bubbled up inside as the realization of his current state adulturating an otherwise pure and wholesome moment they were sharing. A full minute passed in silence as the pair remained in place with Autumn's arms encircled a little tightly around him. The two both needed time to recover from their crying and heavy expressions. Danny finally felt comfortable enough to rise up, which preceded him draping is arm over her while her hold on him adjusted to accommodate the new position.

The uncomfortable, relieved, and slightly optimistic painted dog found himself accidentally looking in the mirror once again. His black and white best friend had her face pressed into his chest and a tight squeeze around his midsection. It all felt so *good* until he picked up his reflection, which provoked him to avert his gaze and lean into Autumn instead. "I've missed you too, Autumn. I can't even.... well... You're just amazing. I hate to ruin this... but you know.. I'm feeling a bit unwell from going without for too long. I kinda need to get to some other stuff if I'm gonna get to sleep, and I'd like to get to tomorrow as quick as possible. Is that okay..?"

Autumn had been relishing the sensations of her face nuzzled into Danny's chest. The smell of her clothes on his clean body and natural personal scent brought her to a rather serene space. The words were processed and considered prior to asking, "What do you mean.. oh." The large baggie caught her attention, and the smaller baggie with a black tarry ball was spotted, making her realize exactly what her friend meant. "Oh... umm... You're getting sick without it..? Like.. withdrawals..?" A nod rustled against her. "Umm... Alright. But on two conditions. One. You don't get all fucked up on it. Two. We move some of the conversation up to tonight. Do you agree to those conditions?" Another nod and a quiet 'yes'. "Okay sweetie. Hmm... I'm going to go pour myself some wine while you take care of it.. I'll be on the couch. You know what to do." The last two sentences had an inflection of sweet amusement, and indicated a hidden grin gracing her muzzle.

The critically ashamed and vulnerable male dog squeezed his best, and currently only, friend in the world. His palm stroked her and he ran his fingers through her soft fur. "Of course! Cuddled up just like old times. I'll be right behind you. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this... just, thanks for letting me get well again. I look forward to putting this all behind us." Warmth exploded from his heart when Autumn turned around and placed her palm on his face and gazed into him, seeing him as he once was and delighting in the experience of it all. The gorgeous silk adorned woman gracefully exited the bathroom and pushed the door shut to provide the desired privacy.

Glass clinking together seasoned the background noise as Autumn served herself a filled glass of mid range red wine to soothe her nerves and relax her for the pending chat. To avoid keeping her waiting, Danny got right to work on the task at hand. The straw and aluminum foil with the remaining resolidified crystals were placed in the large baggie. The metal shook and rattled in sync with plastic shuffling sound while the small baggie of heroin was removed, followed by the spoon and one of the syringes. Fortunately he had already become familiar with this particular batch and was able to calculate how much of a chunk to pinch from the ball and drop it in the spoon. A quick realization provoked a glance around the rather clean bathroom and revealed a belt lying on the floor. After removing the pink 'Bitch' hoodie, the black, faux leather belt was cinched around his arm and left to dangle for the moment.

Another search found a box of cotton swabs, necessary for keeping the relative safety of the current procedure. The fuzz from one end was removed and balled up tightly in preparation for it's use. Everything was now ready to facilitate the operation. A bit of water was added to the soup spoon and the bottom was heated with flame until things were fairly dissolved and a quick stirring with the back of the plunger ensured a uniform solution. The cotton was shakily plopped into the dark brown pool, and it was all sucked up through the ball. Everything else was set aside and Danny hurried over to sit on the toilet after he had lowered the hard, solid lid to make a seat. The makeshift tourniquet was tightened and held firmly but softly between the canine's jaws so as to minimize any damage. Having managed to enlarge a good vein in the spot he kept shaved for this purpose, the needle pierced his tough skin and then entered into the widened tube meant for blood flow.

The man loathed the fact that he still found excitement and pleasure from simply stabbing himself. He even caught an old behavior in play. As the moment grew near, his attention focused on the miserable feeling in his muscles and skin, and even down into his bones and seemingly his very soul. This was a trick somebody had once taught him, focusing on the misery and amplifying it to increase the enjoyment when the relief finally arrived. Shaking his head stole him back from where he was sliding. It was counterproductive to his new goal of finding sobriety. Before anything else could distract him, he depressed the plunger and observed the black poison entering his body in it's most direct route.

Danny rapidly popped the cap back on the medical device, let the belt loose, and held on as a rush of powerful warmth and sedation fell over him, eliciting a nearly erotic sounding moan of, "Ohuhhhnn...." As predicted, he had calculated correctly and ensured that he would not be too fucked up, and that he should be able to catch some sleep despite having a powerful stimulant in his system. Relieved that he hadn't failed Autumn in his administration of drugs, he stood up and after a head rush it was possible to get everything put back away.

Having become clear that everything was okay for now, having someone caring, having not been kicked out, having a place to stay, he was now rather excited to spend time with Autumn.

Following the hallway to the living room, Danny traipsed over to the couch and immediately moved to take a seat. While he lowered his rump and flopped himself against Autumn, he took note of a whole bottle of wine standing next to a glass that was now empty but had by evidence of the liquids legs coloring up the container, been full recently. Settling up against his generous caregiver, she was witnessed filling it to the top again and gulping some down prior to leaning back in comfort and humming subconsciously her contentment with the current position she was in. It seemed a little strange to the loaded dog that she would be drinking somewhat heavily this close to bedtime, but he shooed the thought away and nervously asked, "Hey you. Sorry. Um. You, like, wanna.... talk?" An uncomfortable laugh slipped out out of uncertainty.

Autumn guzzled down more of the alcoholic beverage, finishing her second overly full glass in quick succession in a clear attempt to loosen her for what seemed a powerfully daunting discussion. A slight smile perked the corner of her mouth as she flushed a bit, mostly from the alcohol. Turning her attention to her guest, the smile briefly widened at the sight of her favorite canine before dissipating to a neutral expression of shock and interest. The reason for the sudden change was that her gaze had, as Danny's unexpectedly nude upper body became apparent, landed upon the furless patch of skin in the inner bend of his elbow. Fascination along with a degree of grief struck her heart and mind at the sight of his shaved spot and a small dot of blood at the injection site.

Cautiously, while glancing back and forth from Danny's arm and his face to check for permission, Autumn extended her free arm to the cleared area. Shortly in, the fact that her embarrassed companion had shut his eyes but offered no resistance, communicated the allowance for the action. Her fingers delicately slid over the skin and wiped up the bead of blood before rubbing it into the dog's fur to get it out of the way. This cleaning movement was followed by faint tracing along the skin. There was a silent agreement that this didn't require addressing for at least the moment. A sweet and calming reply purred out a bit above a whisper, "I do. Depending on your answer, this may be all for tonight. Umm, so.... What kind of obstacles, if any, are we going to encounter moving forward? For getting you some treatment..?" Punctuating this inquiry was the downing of the rest of the wine and a bit of a grimace as her mouth and throat burned due to the alcohol content.

Danny smelled a strong odor of wine and opened lifted his eyelids open. Seeing Autumn awaiting his answer, looking hopeful and adoring towards him, drew a smile on him and he extended his arm around his friend to pull and hold her close to him. A few moments passed to consider his life situations and collect his thoughts before he sighed and shared, "Uhh... okay, yeah. So.... two things.. One: I don't have insurance right now. I *know* treatment is super expensive. Too much. I'll go regardless, but I'd at least like to see if we could fix that? And two: I umm.... I have a warrant out for me. I got busted with some drugs on me, got out of jail and maintained for a bit. I got messed up and skipped out on meeting with my probation officer. Honestly, I'm not sure what to do. It's really intimidating.. Those are the things that complicate things. I hope that's not too much...." Seeking comfort for the distressing memories and thoughts, Danny fully hugged Autumn and held on tight while nuzzling his snout into her sleek hair and head.

The sweet hearted woman allowed and melted into his arms and hummed out a happy purr like sound. His embrace felt wonderful, as he had always been well known for being an amazing hugger, and the alcohol enhanced this feeling delightfully. Reluctantly, Autumn pulled herself out so she could meet his greyish eyes with her own violet ringed windows. She was able to confidently assure him, "Don't worry about anything. We'll figure this out, okay? You'll be alright. Just work with me and keep focused. I love you, Danny. Now, that's enough for tonight. Let's just hang out for a bit right here, yeah?" She projected her desire and hopes through her gaze directly at him in a display of nonverbal communication and smiled a large, genuine grin.

Danny felt a great quantity of his distress defuse and he took several large, liberating breaths. "You got it dude! Feels a little like old times. I appreciate you so much." After the night's more serious business was addressed, Autumn and Danny cuddled up together, simply chatting and catching up. Autumn continued her consumption of wine and the result was that she ended up inebriated, nothing too crazy but certainly quite loosened up.

At nearly 1:30 A.M., it was clear that the two best friends should be catching some sleep. Autumn recommended that they adjourn to the bed to crash for the night, to which the younger of the two fully agreed. Before getting up, Autumn placed her hand on the skinny thigh to indicate that she wanted him to wait to stand. They met eyes, each with a glassy quality owing to their respective substance use, but the skunk had a brilliant light behind the glassy shine as she shared, "I love you, Danny." She only allowed him to get to, "I love y..." Before she lunged toward him and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. Due to a stunned state, Autumn's house guest reflexively participated. However, his participation halted only after she had tipped him backwards and climbed onto him. Her ass was planted firmly in his lap, on top of the bright pink sweats he was wearing, and she had her hands on his chest, weaving her fingers through his fur and tugging on it in a heated energy and compulsion.

Once the initial shock had dropped below disabling, the scenario Danny found himself in was able to be processed. His best friend was suddenly kissing him? At no point in time did he ever detect any feelings beyond friendship when they were in their youth. After being apart for so long and with him in his current condition? It seemed so wrong. Especially having seen at least some of her alcohol consumption that was likely influencing her behavior. His hands raised up and softly pressed against her chest, partially on his friend's breasts, eliciting a breathy moan and the whispering of his name. This didn't feel right at all, especially for *him* to be the voice of reason. Regardless, Autumn's upper body was lifted up enough for them to part lips, causing her eyes to open and a look of confusion and worry replaced the happiness prior.

"Uhhhh.... Autumn? What's.. what was that..?" Danny asked with a tone of anxiety in anticipation of what could be a bit of a problem.

A mixture of embarrassment, but mostly a sense of strong resolve charged up Autumn as she stated, "I love you, Danny. I'm sorry... but I do." The resolve faded quickly as it dawned on her just how recklessly and impulsively she had acted and the potential consequences were realized. Her face dropped and took on a concerned and fragile appearance.

The bewildered junkie could see the honesty in his friend and stumbled over his words, "You.. i.. wh... uhwhat...? How much did you drink..?" A twist of skepticism painted itself across his face as the dog attempted to understand the baffling mismatch of reality vs. his lifelong understanding of their relationship.

A black and white hand landed on the her favorite canine's face and stroked it sweetly, which was in large part a self soothing behavior on Autumn's part. Her head lowered towards the man she found herself on top of to plant yet another kiss, but was met with aversion, causing a squeezing feeling and sharp pain in her chest. With body tensing, she sighed in apparent defeat and nearly mumbled, "Well... I guess a lot.. but I.. ugh.. I love you.."

The compulsion to defuse their immediate dilemma fueled Danny's next words, "Autumn... This is a lot.. I don't know what to make of this. Umm...mmm.... I'm interested in talking about this, but maybe when you're sober?" Danny perceived the woman on top of him overflowing with sadness and distress, so he offered comfort, "Hey. Don't worry. It's all okay. We're okay, Autumn. Wanna just catch some sleep for now?"

Autumn sensed a great deal of her worries and sadness fall away due to the reassurance received. She nodded and unconsciously displayed 'puppy dog' eyes and a slightly pouting lip while sadly asking, "Okay... yes... Will you.. do.. would you still sleep with me in my bed? Or do..." She choked a tiny bit as she struggled to finish her question, "you want to sleep out here on the couch instead...?" The tone in her voice completely betrayed her fear and insecurity as she completed the inquiry and she directed her gaze elsewhere.

The raw display of emotion, vulnerability, and fragility tugged at Danny's now fluttering heart. He wasted no time in touching Autumn's side and smoothly sliding his hand up and down over the silky fabric covering her. Knowing that his best friend would benefit tremendously, he caught her attention and shared, "It's alright, Autumn. I'd love to share your bed still. Come on, drunkie. Let's get us some sleep. Hehe."

Unfolding from this point was quite straightforward, with Danny leading his wobbly skunk companion to her own bed and allowing her to flop easily to the bed. The woman giggled in both amusement and embarrassed stress as she lie flat on her back, eyes taking in Danny in all his skinny, strung out yet still sort of good looking glory. Something glimmering in Autumn's purple ringed eyes seemed to indicate *actual* adoration, now visibly more than just the best friend adoration he had always know. Had he been missing this all along? If so, how long? Is this new? All to be discovered in the morning. For now, he was content to to be crawling up with Autumn. Her higher end bed felt heavenly, especially now that he had a solid dose of dark comfort turning him into a puddle of relaxation. The scene became complete when Danny sweetly rolled Autumn onto her side and pressed himself snug up behind her, cuddling up like they used to. "Good night, Autumn. Sleep well."

The night was incredibly restful for the recently homeless man. Heroin always made for spectacularly rejuvenating feeling sleep. Following a good, long stretch was a tactile search for Autumn before opening his eyes to check which revealed her absence. Shrugging, he assumed that she must have gotten up early despite the somewhat heavy imbibing in the wee hours of the technical morning. An empty stomach and full bladder made their complaints known to him, encouraging his departure from the first bed he had slept on in years. The cold wooden floor sparked a bit more awareness and consciousness, leading the painted dog to straighten up and make for the living room to seek his wonderful friend. Upon opening the door, Autumn's voice filled his ears in an apparent conversation.

"Yes. Yes. Okay, I'll have him call you as soon as possible. I appreciate your time. Thank you so, so much. Alright, good bye." The phone discussion the slightly hungover skunk had been engaged in was concluded, with Danny catching the tail end. With phone placed in silky pocket, she noticed a sleepy looking canine yawning and half lidded paying attention to her and clearly having heard a bit of what she had been saying. A smile automatically pasted itself to her face as she barely contained some excitement, "Hey mister! How did you sleep?"

Honestly loving genuine positive attention lit Danny up inside as he happily replied, "Mmm... SO GOOD! That was amazing, dude. How are you feeling? You really put it away last night. Heh." A silly smirk and a wink made an appearance on the groggy canine as he poked fun at his companion.

Her friend's joke reminded her of the late night incident and embarrassment seared inside her and was accompanied by fear. Fear that she may have to face rejection and feel guilty for what she had done to maybe risk damaging their friendship. With her best efforts to hid her emotions, something she had never been one to do, she managed a halfway convincing smile.

"I'm glad! That was really nice. Reminded me of old times, y'know? And... A little hungover. I made breakfast and coffee though, so help yourself! Also.. I decided to put in some work this morning to try dealing with your obstacles. I got a hold of your probation officer and told him you wanna get clean, so he would like you to call him. Honestly, he sounded kind of happy, so I think we should be able to fix things. Have some food, drink some coffee to perk yourself up, and then will you call him, please?" Anticipation, and hope that he would show the initiative to show he was serious, captured her mind as she cautiously tensed at the possibility that her suffering friend might drag his feet.

Danny felt stunned. Being faced with his probation officer was scary, but could it really be true that he might have another ally in this battle? An interesting prospect. Interesting enough to try, especially when his best friend had his back. He had been looking off into space while taking in and contemplating the information. Upon returning the dog locked eyes with Autumn and nodded as the corners of his muzzle lifted up. "You're amazing, Autumn. I'll get on that, but... coffee makes me sick." His eyes rolled at the irony of how his personal chemistry functioned. "I'll definitely eat. I'm starving! Umm... Could I maybe.. you know..? Ugh.." It felt so wrong of him to be asking to use drugs in Autumn's apartment. Self loathing boiled and bubbled up within him as he dropped his head and gulped in shameful anxiety.

The woman, feeling uncomfortable and seeking some degree of relief against the scenario, closed the distance between the two until there was none. Despite the stress of it all, it still brought her great comfort to be with him. Their hands hung by their sides, so her hands clasped his and held tight in solidarity. Body to body they stood, with Autumn nuzzling at Danny's chest and neck until he eventually gave one back before resting his head gently on hers. The skunk's voice projected out into his skinny chest softly and incredibly sweetly, "Hey, it's okay.. You can. But *only* if you work with me to find another option soon, or a way to stop, alright? Please... And I'd like you to help with some things." It felt right to remain exactly as they were, so that was what she did.

Danny felt pained still, but relieved and also intrigued as to what help the woman could possibly require. Still, the feeling of her against him and her holding his hands *did* feel quite enjoyable and comforting. "I promise. And what would you like me to help with?"

Autumn's words came out lovingly, with a weird cryptic aspect to it, "Thanks hon. That means a lot. I love you. And don't you worry about helping right now, just eat and go do your thing so you can make your call." Having completed her piece, the sweetheart pulled away and outpoured love in her affectionate eyes. His face, though slightly emaciated, brought such joy to her life.

The two shared a silent moment, during which powerful information was conveyed to Danny. He could see that similar light in his previously unromantic partner's eyes, and could see some of the feelings inside. It would probably be best to address this once this morning's tasks were taken care of.

Commencing the next steps for the morning, Danny wolfed down a breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and a glass of orange juice. The meal had him reminiscing about plenty of mornings of his childhood and up to his late teens, especially the many, many breakfasts that he and Autumn had shared over the years. This particular meal was much more delightful than the pizza, as it had been homemade with love, and was obviously healthier.

With belly full, the addict stole away shamefully to the bathroom to address his crystalline craving so as to perk up in preparation for the unsettling phone call with his probation officer. Having taken several minutes locked away, the young dog unintentionally vaporized a slightly larger dose than usual. An electric surge powered it's way through his body, his heart rate increased, his senses increased dramatically, his pupils dilated, and he felt hot enough to start sweating a little bit. He once again hid his supplies under the sink. After using some mouthwash, Danny exited the restroom. Having no phone, he was going to need to use Autumn's. He asked, "Hey, umm... I'm ready to call. And..... Could you be here with me while I do this?"

Autumn's eyes glimmered with excitement as her heart was touched by his desire for her support. It showed that he was willing to do the things he found extremely difficult as long as he had her. Tears nearly came to her eyes in pride, relief, and love for him. All she could do was pull up his officer's number so it was ready to call and then the two sat on the couch they had been on when last night's unexpected events occurred. Curling sweetly up against the dog, the hopeful skunk rested her hand on her friend's leg to remind him he wasn't in this alone.

In this exact moment, Danny fully realized how cared for and supported he actually was. How supportive, how genuine, how loving, how wonderful his best friend truly was was shining through into his consciousness. His heart melted at the simple yet powerful gesture of solidarity. This all triggered some feeling of potential deeper than solely friend love for his beautiful souled best friend in the world. Having summoned up the courage to hit dial, Danny first nuzzled the top of Autumn's head and briefly combed his fingers through her hair. This affectionate gesture evoked a deeply positive effect in both parties.

Danny took a final huge breath and sighed long and deep as he pressed dial. His heart pounded and skipped when the ringing began. Partway through the third ring, it stopped and a gruff voice answered. "Officer Drake Swanson, probation. Who am I speaking with?" Danny's probation officer was a 52 year old veteran on the police force and an intimidating looking all black wolf who naturally made a lot of people at least a little nervous. Fierce looking, for sure.

With a hard gulp and a momentary throat clear, Danny shakily replied, "Hey, Officer Swanson. It's umm... It's Danny. Danny Lacewell.... I think my friend Autumn called you earlier..." During the brief silence as the man on the other side contemplated things, the painted dog listened in increasing anxiety to the ringing, shuffling, and talking in the background noise.

Officer Swanson spoke sternly but with an underlying tone of genuine open intrigue, "Danny?? Been a while, eh? Alright, I'm just gonna cut right to it. Your friend Autumn and I did speak earlier. You have one hell of a friend. Am I understanding that you're wanting to get clean?"

"Umm.. y.. yes. Yes, sir. I really do. I umm.. Look.. If I have to go back to jail to make it happen... I'm willing. I just need help. I don't know where to start.." Absolute honesty and aching desperation saturated every single word the colorful canine spoke. Strangely enough, something within him suggested that everything would be okay.

Another pause. Drake was well known for being thoughtful, considerate, and for speaking deliberately. "Hmm.. I'll be honest. This is not how I expected our next interaction was going to be. I'm not complaining however. Before we go further, lemme ask you something. Are you sober right now?" Though a question like that, directed at a person in Danny's vulnerable situation, could be terrifying, there was no accusatory inflection in the wolf's voice.

Fear of consequences of such an admission caused Danny's head to drop and pull Autumn closer to him as his chest shook lightly. "Uhmm.. uh. No. No, sir... I'm not.." The time between his statement and the authority figure in charge of him dilated, stretching out every single millisecond. He held on to his friend tightly and met her eyes as they looked up to check on him in response to his sudden embrace. When Autumn nodded and squeezed him in return, it brought comfort and reaffirmed Danny's resolve.

The officer sighed, appearing to actually be in a positive manner, and his gravelly response was alight with optimism, "Alright. Well! I appreciate your honesty, Mr. Lacewell. It shows a lot. As does taking the time to reach out to me and certainly being willing to own up and give yourself up. Moments like these really keep me going. Let me just make sure I have everything straight. Ahem... So, you're wanting to get into a rehab facility. You're staying with someone supportive. You're still using. Is that accurate?"

"Yes, sir. That's correct. Umm... I don't have any insurance. I kinda want to have that rather than go into debt if possible... you know? Umm... I also would like to get some assistance getting off of this stuff, if possible.." Danny squeezed the supportive woman snuggled into him and smiled at her, happy that he remembered a priority item for his objective. The smile was affectionately reflected right back at him, exhibiting the pride she held for him.

The fact that Drake was having a much better day than he had been was apparent in the way he spoke, relaxation and a smile were communicated through his tone, "Well shit! I'm impressed, Mr. Lacewell. Haha! Here's what I can do. I'm going to get in contact with some facilities and find you a bed. There's generally a waiting list, so it may take some time. For that, we have access to assistance funds. Nothing to worry about on that, bud. The medications to get off cost a lot, so insurance will be the best route. Shouldn't take long though, maybe a week or two tops. Other than that, I can send some resources by mail or electronically for the other stuff. Does that sound good?"

Danny noisily exhaled in ecstatic decompression and agreed, "Yes, sir!! Oh my god.. Thank you so much! I won't let you down! I think you can send them to this number..?" The pair met each other's eyes and Autumn sent an approving nod. "Yeah, this number works!"

To wrap up the conversation, the officer concluded, "Excellent. Just what I wanted to hear. Don't worry about letting me down. Just concern yourself with not letting your sweet friend, and most importantly yourself, down. I'll be in touch. And just so you know, I will still do what I must if you end up bailing on this. That will mean jail. But! I have a great feeling about you. Hang on bud, we'll get ya there. Thanks for making my day." The call then disconnected, leaving only silence and the display on the screen indicating the call details.

Feeling detached and in an extremely surreal experience, Danny set the phone on the couch and laid his head back to stare at the ceiling and process the extended freedom and unbelievable opportunity he had received. All that he could think to do besides that was to pull his friend even more tightly against him to share his experience with her.

Autumn had listened intently to both sides of the conversation, and escalated in joy and a sense of ease as it was progressing. Once at it's conclusion, the sensations associated with Danny pulling her closer and including her in his experience were absolutely breathtaking. It actually caused a breathless feeling as her entire body flushed hot. After simply being together for a little over a minute, Autumn raised her head and laid it on his shoulder, allowing her to take in his face and read the emotions on it. She whispered, "You did amazing, Danny. It's all okay now. We'll start the other stuff later. How are you feeling?" The affectionate skunk nudged him with her nose and smiled against his fur as she plotted out her plan of action.

The overwhelming feeling passed, bringing the canine back to hear his friend speak. "Thank you so much. I can't believe this is even happening... Later works best, heh. I'm feeling... man, I dunno really. Just ahhhh... I feel great. Better, but I truly don't have the words right now. Whoof.. I think I'm gonna shower and tidy myself up for the day." Danny sat more upright and lifted himself off of the soft, black couch and up to his feet. Just prior to lifting up, his multicolored hand curled around Autumn's and it remained that way even as he stood. His eyes followed the path from his forearm down to their hands, and up her arm until he captured her visibly deeply loving face. He froze in that moment while debating the numerous thoughts being generated at once.

Peace and adoration swelled up in Autumn, nearly consuming all of her. There was a spark of something different in her canine companion's eyes that once held his silvery grey rings, but now held mostly black pits for pupils. They had always been so close that she could read him regardless of his state, and that something different indicated it *could* match her new more than platonic feelings. Seemingly worth a shot, she sheepishly looked down and nervously asked, "I'm so glad to hear that! You're welcome, and thank you hon. Umm. oh.. Well... about last night.. Would you want to talk about it now? We could while you shower or something... I'll just hang out. The shower might help keep things relaxed maybe?" She truly hoped that something about the proposition would both intrigue Danny and put him as ease enough to move forward.

It certainly felt odd that the two would have such a serious conversation in a peculiar manner, but it did have some interesting aspects that could be relaxing. Danny's free hand rose up and he roughly ran it through his hair out of anxiety. "Uhh, y.. yeah, that's fine with me. So, I guess let's get to it?" It warmed his heart to witness Autumn's face lift up to him again, this time with even more light gracing it. Their hands slowly slipped apart as they savored their physical expression of connection to each other. Nothing more was said beyond that, as all was clear for what was to happen next.

It was beneficial to both of the pair to have some quiet time to at least prepare their thoughts and center themselves. Autumn waited while Danny relocated himself into her increasingly familiar bathroom. The woman sat up cross-legged and focused her concentration on what she wanted to say, how much to share, and how best to express her feelings for the man she had at last gotten back into her life, in what seemed to be a potentially permanent fashion.

Danny's journey of roughly 20 feet from the couch to the bathroom was rather intense. Powerfully enhanced senses made for a lot to process. The frigid hardwood floors offered a crisp, refreshing feeling in combination with the incredible vitalizing breaths flowing in and out of his lungs. The various tiny sounds around the apartment, little creaks and squeaks, and sounds from other apartments. Even the silence seemed particularly loud. This was a predictable result from an overly familiar stimulant high. The breeze resulting from his unusually casual gait, swept over his face and through his hair and fur, creating a pleasurable tactile experience. He stole one last subtle glance over his shoulder at the genuinely spectacular woman he had the privilege of calling his friend. What he caught sight of initiated a calming energy, with the adorable skunk possessing a tiny smile while she looked to her lap in thought.

Bolstered in positivity, Danny swung the door silently open and cautiously shut it behind him, making sure not to lock it. Once inside, the multicolored dog made quick work of slipping out of the soft, pink 'Bitch' sweats and hopping into the flat overhead shower. The sliding glass door, smoky and distorted for ensured privacy, slid open and then closed on a still quite new sliding track. In no time, he had acquainted himself with the water settings and now found himself standing underneath the straight down spray of large diameter.

The other room contained a nervous Autumn who sat listening to the noise from the room occupied by her best friend. Upon picking up the splattering and splashing sounds, which indicated Danny having established himself in the shower, she took her cue to move to join him. A fluttering in her heart was felt as her stomach flipped lightly in anticipation of their chat. She took a quick breath outside the door as she steadied herself, then proceeded to pad lightly to the sink. Her supple bottom rested upon the counter as she wove her hands together in her silk covered lap. Autumn cleared he throat and declared her presence in the room, "Hey Danny. Get everything figured out in there?"

Echoing all around was Danny's hesitant conversational effort, "Yeah. Yeah, it was super easy!" The quiet that each of them held on to dragged on for what felt like minutes, when in reality it was perhaps 30 seconds. Someone needed to break the pause, and the dog found himself capable of being that person. "So... uhhm.. More than friend love..?" Face twisted in a wince at his clumsy effort, Danny could only wait in hopes that it would suffice in getting things rolling.

Autumn hummed and rubbed over her thighs and knees in an act of self soothing in preparation for the disclosure of deeply personal information, "Hummmm..... Yeah, kinda...."

The discrepancy between the display exhibited the night prior and the much weaker expression in this instance resulted in a follow up of apparent disappointment, "Dude.. come on. It's me, you can tell me anything. I'd like to know what you *really* feel. Please."

The black and white being stood up and paced around in pent up unnerved energy and spoke more quickly due to her anxiety, "Oh um yeah. Um okay. Ugh. So... We were... are best friends. Always have been ever since we met. I felt that best friend love, and only that, until right before I went to college and you started partying and stuff... But then it didn't make sense and I didn't think you felt the same and and..and... yeah, I guess that's the basics of it... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make things weird..." Her entire body was battered with waves of uncomfortable heat of embarrassment and she began wringing her hands together.

*There* it was. The truth. Only one thing came to Danny's excited mind. "Oh. No, it's okay. Don't worry about that. Autumn... Come here. Let me see you."

Autumn bit the inside of her lip and fidgeted in the space between the request and her hopping off the counter. She traipsed forward towards the sliding door and sheepishly knocked on it. Out of unbearable embarrassment and fear of the outcomes possible, she dropped her head and pointed her nose almost straight down while eyeing slightly towards the door. The door slid with a smooth rolling sound, just wide enough for a face to be shown.

Danny removed himself from the strong spray of water and padded his way to the door, sopping wet and dripping heavily from his fur. The hair was swept away, allowing his full, mildly sunken face to show. For several seconds after gripping the stainless steel handle, the dog froze in place. With heart racing, from both the drug and anxiety, he moved it and exposed his face to his friend. "Closer," the canine beckoned kindly. He could see just how difficult it was for the skunk in front of him to follow through, and quite admired the courage she demonstrated in relocating herself close to the opening that had been created.

It seemed so strange. Autumn's brow was furrowed in distress. Danny felt that, if anything, it should be he who felt so uncomfortable. She was quite attractive, responsible, sweet, and had a kind soul. Danny, on the other hand, was simply not in a good place. He did know that she was the one person in the world who knew him at his core, though, and that was the only thing that allowed him to believe that the possibility even existed. An outreaching of his greyscale colored hand culminated in his hand and her two black clasped hands becoming connected. A weak suggestive pull resulted in Danny and Autumn being nearly face to face, with her face still pointing snout down. No longer being able to hold back any longer, the dog swept the door aside enough to be capable of stepping out. The distance between the two diminished to none when Danny kissed the top of Autumn's white streaked black head and chose to hold her. A quick, whispered apology hit point blank into the skunk's little ears, "I'm sorry I'm wet. Oh. And naked. Heh." Only a passive grunt of slight amusement and heightened nerves was heard, so he continued, "Autumn. You know I love you too. You know me better than anyone else, and you're my best friend. I can't say I don't feel more than best friend love, I feel something more for you too."

Rising up in dubious surprise, Autumn's snout and eyes finally locked onto the shower's occupant. Her fluffy tail flicked wildly while unknowingly casting doubt with her purple ringed windows, a pained sigh fell out of her muzzle, "You.. You do...? Umm.. AHEM... I know it's bad timing and I shouldn't have brought it up or anything but I got drunk and was... ugh. I didn't mean to.. It IS a bad time though.. We probably shouldn't umm.. act.. on anything. For now, at least. Right? What do you think?"

Clearing up the situation felt wonderful, and Danny agreed despite his initial instinct, "No, no.... You're probably right. We can just move on for now. Thanks dude. But.. Umm..." Hopeful fire sprang forth from Autumn's deep purple eyes at his words, and she eagerly waited for what she could see was happening. The two looked into each other's eyes for several seconds before simultaneously pressing their muzzles together in a pent up passionate kiss, reaching up and running their fingers through the other's hair and fur. It only lasted for a couple of seconds before they pulled apart with a tiny wet smooch sound. "I uhh.. I'm sorry. I just wanted one. Arghh... I'm gonna finish my shower. Heh. I'm glad we got this all out."

Both participants staggered lightly backwards and rushed with equal parts embarrassment, guilt, and affection for their impulsive actions. They simultaneously reached for the door and slid it shut, each releasing a relieving sigh and going about their next tasks.

For the next couple of weeks, Autumn and Danny did their best to lower the dog back down into a more manageable state. It didn't take long to switch Danny from heroin to methadone scored on the street. He was able to trade his remaining stash of everything to do so, in addition to Autumn funding everything beyond that. It was too expensive to obtain via prescription without insurance, but junkies on the streets were more than willing to let insurance obtained medication go for much cheaper to fund their real addiction.

Switching from one to the other, plus dropping his stimulant use meant that he slept a lot. Caffeine helped, but he still needed lots of rest. He ended up regaining a healthy amount of weight and began to appear much healthier. During this time, there was a certain tension held between the two, and they occasionally broke down and shared some tender more than friends moments together. One final thing was that Officer Swanson maintained regular contact and even visited once, just to verify that everyone was on the same page and that the situation was going as planned. Through Drake's resources, obtaining a bed in a rehabilitation facility and becoming covered by insurance fortunately coincided nearly at the same time.

Danny was seen off by both his P.O. and his best friend, and he entered the place he never imagined he would ever find himself in. His strong resolve carried him a long way, but there were several instances in which Danny broke down emotionally and desperately wished to quit and leave. Luckily, he utilized the support available, including staff, Drake, and Autumn at various points and talked everything out. Deep, important work was done and vital progress and growth were cultivated. After three months inside, with regular visits from his people, Danny was welcomed back into the real world with wide open arms. After a wholehearted congratulations from Drake and Autumn, the friends returned to Autumn's apartment and flopped down onto the couch in an expression of necessary relaxation.

The reunion was marked by normal activities spiced with testing the waters with some, at times heavy, flirting. Some assistance enabled Danny to lock down employment as a custodian cleaning several locations, which occupied him and gave a sense of contribution as opposed to his old lifestyle of simply taking and existing. Another bonus was that he could pull his weight in the household, which made him feel much happier about his residency at home. Once the recovering canine started to bring in paychecks, he used his first one to take Autumn out on a date. It wasn't much, but enjoying some delicious food and a decently pretty view was a spectacular time because of them being in each other's company.

Having full bellies and a delightful night ensured that the two returned in lighthearted moods. The two friends made it back home and laid down in bed together, as they always had when spending time together. Usually to wind down, they would kick back in bed and watch some sort of movie or show and then go to sleep. Tonight, as both lie slightly upright against the headboard, Danny turned on his side facing the bed's other occupant and cleared his throat.

When her attention was directed towards him, he communicated through his eyes that it was his intention to speak before opening his maw to do so, "Hey, umm... I just kinda wanna say and ask something.." Autumn perked up and her eyes became more focused, so he proceeded, "I just really want to thank you for everything you've done.. I know I have before, but seriously. You took me in when I had nothing, no one, and was shunned by the world.. You didn't have to. You've done so much, and I can never repay you for that. Umm.... ahem..." Out of anxiety, his hand raised up and he tensely scratched the back of his neck. "I know I still have a long way to go, and a lot of work to do. But I really love having you at my side. I love you and love being with my best friend all the time. And I remember when you told me you love me, and when I realized I love you too. I was just thinking that maybe... that maybe you would want to be together..? It's okay if you don't feel like it's the right time." Danny stopped scratching himself to instead pet Autumn's arm, eventually transitioning to gripping her hand. His eyebrows raised and his ears dropped back and down a bit in nervous anticipation, but he managed to maintain eye contact with the woman he desired more than anything.

The tail of the recipient of the recognition, kind words, and special inquiry betrayed her excitement. Her heart thumped and raced at the complete surprising of her with such a sudden question. The affectionate hold her loved one had on her hand warmed her from the inside out as she let out a deep relieving sigh and chuckled, "It's about damn time, jerk. Hehe. I'm just kidding." The tone turned sweet and loving, "I'm glad I found you again. You're welcome for all that. You deserve just as much recognition though. I always knew how strong you are, and I knew you just needed the right chances to be given. The progress you've made is nothing short of incredible. I look forward to seeing it continue... as your partner. Yes, Danny! I'd love to be with you!" Her personality had always been outgoing and take-charge and she found herself atop him, smooshing her snout into her that of her now boyfriend's with her tongue snaking it's way into his muzzle.

Multiple overwhelming feelings and sensations temporarily paralyzed Danny until his consciousness caught back up, allowing him to push up into Autumn and introduce his own long, wide, and flat tongue into their first intensely intimate kiss. As the expression of their new relationship and bonding experience drew on, moans of appreciation rang out in harmony. The male dog's awareness eventually spread further away from just his face and he sensed his girlfriend grinding on him slowly and deliberately, causing his cock to swell up in it's sheath and begin poking it's tip out. Instinctively, his hands moved to Autumn's thicker than average thighs and ran sensually up and down. There was a certain ecstasy experienced from exploring his, quite certainly, life mate's body.

Danny thrust up to match Autumn's motions and heard a gentle gasp through her nose as his member rubbed up against her increasingly sensitive slit. Traversing over the skunk's body further, he rapidly found himself euphoric with two handfuls of Autumn's deliciously supple ass. It had been quite some time, years in fact, since he last had any sexual contact with anybody and this was the ultimate version of it.

Autumn sensed her partner's admiration of her body and every single aspect of the activity happening and absolutely reveled in his joy and her experience. Pulling away, she unbuttoned her pajama shirt and basked in Danny's adoring, fiery, and (naturally) drugged gaze as her body and face were being taken in. "Oh sweetie... I've been dreaming, sometimes literally, of this moment. I love you, Danny." Letting her words sink into Danny's mind, her fingers slipped up under the bottom of his plain grey shirt, lifting up slowly and eventually removing it from the man's body. Her eyes drank in the sight of the much more healthy body and was especially happy to see that the crooks of his arms were no longer shaved injection sites. The loving shimmer in his silvery eyes, which now had normal sized pupils and thus actually showed the color, along with the heaving of his colorful chest were absolutely breathtaking to Autumn.

The gorgeous skunk's comments rang vibrantly in Danny's mind, causing a momentary closing of the eyes and an enormous breath that transformed into a long sigh of true peace and happiness. Caressing up her curvy sides led him to her C cup breasts, and it brought him great pleasure to observe her enjoyment in the stimulation. There was a deep sense of connection between the two, as deep, firm, and all encompassing as is possible. With a growing grin, he returned the assessment and appreciation of his partner's body and replied, "Mmm.. I've had a dream or two as well," He punctuated this with a wink, nonverbally explaining that it was more than what he said. This was true, as he regularly had dreams involving his now lover while in treatment and since returning home. "I love you too, honey. Mmmm..."

A sweet look showed itself on Autumn's face and then became shadowed in a fiery intensity. "Mmmm.. Hurry babe, get your pants off." Quickly hopping off, she slipped off her soft bottoms while keeping her eyes on Danny's lap as his member was unveiled. To her amazement, as well as pride at her effect on her love, his cock was surprisingly slick and sticky with an unusually large quantity of pre. It made her feel amazing that Danny was so turned on by their build up.

Not wanting to wait anymore, Autumn swung her leg back over the supine canine and raised herself upright on her knees. Realizing what was finally about to happen made her stomach flip due to the amount of emotions and intensity of love. The desire grew to be too much to handle, influencing her to grasp her boyfriend's slicked dick and guide him into position. Widening her stance a bit, she lowered her rear and sank herself down, engulfing the hot, hard rod with her heated, wet tunnel. "Uhhmnmfffnnn.. ohfuck.. Danny.."

Danny moaned and mumbled something similar, much less audible than his partner's noises. He was mostly focusing on the magical feeling as a result of looking upwards at his beautiful skunk woman and the pleasure she was experiencing. He wrapped his hands around the curvy hips and dug his nails into the skin beneath the mostly black fur, an act which elicited a deeper moan and a biting of the lip. Pulling back into his own experience, allowed full sensory input and his hips bucked up automatically which pushed his knot up against his partner.

This was a powerful bonding moment shared between the two that had come to develop much greater feelings than most. The entire act played out for a few minutes before Danny growled out loud in addition to thrusting upwards and forcing Autumn downward to push his knot into her. The thicker section of his cock penetrating the skunk caused her to scream out in pleasure, and the two managed to make themselves meet eyes with the other. All they could do was hold on tight and stay with one another to share every single instant.

Following about half a minute of remaining locked together with Autumn on top, she lowered her upper body onto Danny's chest and nuzzled the love of her life. A giddiness was felt as the canine locked inside her returned the same affectionate gesture. She let out a small purr, "That was.. wow.. mmm.."

Hearing that Autumn's experience had been great caused Danny to soar in euphoria as he confessed in a strangely clear haze, "Mmmm... That was the best I've ever had. By a long shot. God... I just love you, Autumn! There's nobody else I'd rather be with." His expressed feelings were reflected back in her own words before they both separated and fell into a spectacularly restorative sleep.

Autumn and Danny fell into a life of relative harmony with each other over the next several months, during which Danny attended support groups for those with addiction problems. He spent time with people he formed relationships with, and worked hard at cleaning up as much of the damage he caused in his past as was possible. It was hard, scary, and humbling, but nevertheless, he pushed through and started to feel truly confident and excited for his life. Autumn was amazed and beyond happy to witness his growth. She maintained her own side of life with her own friends and her work in accounting. The pair reveled in being able to reintroduce Danny to all of Autumn's family during the holidays. Life was good.

Down the road in time, at some point both lovers were in bed getting passionate and heated when Autumn paused and tensed a little bit, looking mildly worried. The multicolored patchy dog was quick to notice and inquire, "Hey, what's wrong sweetie..?"

Autumn flushed hot with embarrassment and looked around in discomfort, "Oh. I. Uh. I wanted to talk about something..." She took a rapid glance at her life partner, who had a purely loving and interested look, along with obvious concern, and it influenced her to relax. Damn it, he just made her so comfortable and okay and that she wouldn't be judged for what she had to let out. Her chest heaved out an unintentionally loud sigh before somehow calmly sharing, "Okay, so.. I'm kind of into something specific in the bedroom.. Not that I don't love it with you, of course, but I do have a umm.... a preference or kink or whatever.."

A loving smirk made an appearance on Danny's face as he said nothing, only waiting for Autumn to continue. Autumn noticed the obvious change and rolled her eyes in humor and self consciousness, "Ugh. You're a cute jerk! Fineeee. I like to like.. be in charge. I know I kind of take charge, but I... well I haven't ever gotten to try it.. but I'm so turned on by watching or thinking of someone or me being... dominant over a guy. I'd love to just, like, own you. uhh. That's it. What do you think?"

Danny was certainly surprised by such a sudden and unexpected question, and had to process it a little bit. At some point he realized that his lack of response was causing extra anxiety in his girlfriend, and he enjoyed teasing her on occasion, so he drew it out a little intentionally. The moment he noticed her shift towards a negative state, he squeezed her tightly and kissed her cute, warm cheek. "Whoa babe. I don't know what all that involves... but I'm not gonna deprive you of something you want this bad. I'll give it a try, okay?"

Autumn felt breathless for several moments, and melted into him. Gushing vocally, she grinned widely and elevated in tone, "Yes, please! Thank you so much. You have no idea how happy this makes me! Let's just have some regular lovin' for now, and we'll get going next time." Following this, the two fucked in their usual manner. That original loving feeling was always present, but it had progressed and evolved into also having a deeply primal, lusty nature.

Over time, their sexual lifestyle transformed into something much more in the style that Autumn preferred, and that her increasingly little submissive boy had began to enjoy, more than he had anticipated. They expanded their activities and accessories to include things like leash and collar play, commands, rewards and punishments, and pegging, the latter of which was a long process of introduction up to actual ability to take it. It took longer still until Danny could enjoy the sensation of being fucked, but prior to that he found that he deeply relished the feeling of even more full dominance being demonstrated onto him.

One day, on the day before starting their weekend, both came home from work and Autumn shared that she had something to try out the following day, causing excitement in both lovers. It had been discovered that both of them had rather high sex drives, and that became infinitely more apparent once their special interests were included.

The morning was kicked off by Autumn tying up her little pet to the bed by his wrists and ankles. She watched with affection as he slowly booted up into consciousness and processed what was happening. "Oh, good morning! I thought we'd start off early. I'm quite excited to try out our fun for today!" The muzzle of the dog opened up and started the process of speaking when his dominant woman slapped her hand firmly over it. "Nope! It's not your turn yet." The skunk's mouth twisted in a smirk at the sight of Danny's immediate arousal and the sound of his whimpering. "Good boy. Now, I'm going to eat." A gentle stroke to the obedient, and now fully awake, man's face before she turned toward the kitchen for a nice breakfast.

The dog's owner slipped out of the room and casually went about making her breakfast, scrambling some eggs, toasting some bread, frying up some bacon, pouring some juice and some coffee. The meal took place in the kitchen as well, sat at the table located in the room. Playing this move, leaving her little toy all tied up and waiting, drove them both crazy and led Autumn to feel an intense heat radiating between her legs. She knew that Danny was craving contact as well, but he wasn't allowed anything until it was desired by her. The swirling thoughts and feelings encouraged a hand to glide down her belly to her thigh to briefly scratch into her skin before making contact with the swollen lips down below. Just a tease was all that was needed in the moment, so a finger traced it's way around the sensitive folds and brushed ever so slightly against her hypersensitive nerve filled bud.

Sufficiently revved up, the dishes were temporarily abandoned on the table in favor of satisfying her burning desire. It took effort to keep her pace normal in transit to the informal dungeon. The skunk's heart accelerated in it's beating under a massive escalation in feelings of drive, power, and dominance. A bit carried away, when the door swung open it slammed into the wall with a shocking thump. In all likelihood there was some damage caused, but the exhibition unexpectedly spiked each parties libido and encouraged full engagement of their respective roles. Seeing Danny all restrained just for her lit the usual fire inside but cranked up to a bonfire with the excitement of the new treat on the menu this morning. Half lidded, Autumn purred, "There's my good..... boy. I'll let you loose and then you will go to the bathroom. I left the bag, you'll know what I want."

The completely passive round eared canine cocked his head in confusion at the odd pause before the word "boy". It was, however, not his place to question his mistress, as she wished to be called. Perhaps later it would be okay for an inquiry to be made, but certainly not now. In this moment, his place was to submit to the beautiful and increasingly crazed creature who was actively uncuffing his wrists and urging him along. Attempting to please his woman he shuffled off with extra effort and purpose. Rounding his way around the doorway into the hall, he stole a cautious glance and was rewarded with the spectacular image of Autumn planting her generous ass on the bed, grinning to herself and at her pet obeying her commands. In reference to their sex life, the dog *lived* to create that look on her face.

Danny's vision trimmed down into more of a tunnel and most sensory input was dismissed during his mission to his destination. The cool linoleum cut through the sort of fog he was experiencing and perked his awareness while the anonymous brown bag that was laid out with a small pink ribbon on one of the handles. Padding over in deep interest, the dog spread the opening of the bag with his hands, revealing very little contents especially in regards to the size of the bag. The items caused him to freeze in order to process what he was seeing. Pulling the few items that weighed next to nothing, Danny laid out a sexy little lingerie outfit comprising of black and bright deep blue panties, bra and miniskirt. Having never dressed in anything typically considered "women's clothes", an initial apprehension gripped him until the much stronger need to be a good boy.

The mistress's servant undressed from his pajamas and slipped on the present for the couple with a degree of instinctual reluctance. The mirror revealed an embarrassed canine that shifted around, trying to integrate the unfamiliar experience. Time, however, was not the be wasted. Everything was left behind as Danny nervously retraced the path to the bedroom and planted himself before his girlfriend. The sense that he was supposed to put on a show filled him, which caused him to somewhat clumsily exhibit his body for the woman on the bed.

Having been playing with herself while her man had been away, Autumn's breathing had grown heavier and her excitement swelled inside at the image of Danny having obeyed and shown off to her. A slight amusement and adoration also weaved itself into her experience at his goofy attempt at a sexy performance. A gesture to stop was communicated as a raised hand, "Hehe. Ah. There's my good GIRL." She picked up on her submissive man's head drop and blushing behavior from a new activity and behavior that was added to their repertoire. "Come." The being now declared to be a female, at least for this period of time, awkwardly stepped to his woman.

Danny fell to his knees in front of his owner and felt himself being assessed. Autumn took her time drinking every single bit of her cross dressed boyfriend with great pleasure and let a chuckle project outward, "Oh my. You do make a pretty girl. Although....." Having thought out her next move, she removed a hair tie from her own locks and moved towards Danny to tie back his longer hair into a ponytail. "Mmhh.. Veeeery nice." To punctuate this comment, she roughly gripped his facial fur and forced his eyes to meet the inferno stoked in her own eyes before baring her teeth in a rush of excitement and pulling him right into her crotch.

An electric sensation shot up the skunk's spine as her pent up anticipation was addressed after the teasing she had performed on herself. Forcefully, she held her toy in place and almost immediately started panting and twitching due to the tonguework being enacted upon her. The view of her lingerie clad man with his long black hair tied up with his glistening face decorated with a smile from being hard at work... it all created a wonderfully complete and euphoric experience that led to her curvy hips rocking her slit against his face. "Gahhh... fuck babe.." She decided that her little boy toy could use some tongue rest, plus there was another thing she had in mind that had been consuming her thoughts in the background. "You're such a good pussy eating bitch.." This was accompanied by a caring stroke to the damp face of the panting canine that lit up from the compliment.

Autumn put on a show of pretending to think about the next direction to take, mostly to cultivate mystery and excitement, before silently getting up. She could feel Danny's eyes glued to her form even though she couldn't see him, which she had trained him specifically to always do. Rifling noisily and speedily through their supply chest of toys and accessories, several items were removed. Autumn thoroughly enjoyed ordering Danny around so she growled, "Come, girl. NOW." A chill of delight crept from her head down throughout her full body simply from observing the powerless little pet crawling his way over to her feet to await the next command.

The items were tossed down onto the bed in a pile. "Get to it." The order came out calm and relaxed, yet firm. Directed at the fun toys and things, her eyes watched as Danny sorted through and grabbed the leash and collar that had been collected. "No! BAD. You know that's always mine to use." For punishment, the canine's ponytail was firmly grasped and used to harshly push his face into the bed. Eventually a whine of apology and submission muffled it's way out from the comforter and led to his release. The reason it seemed so important was that Autumn preferred that she capture her man with the leash rather than him linking himself up because it felt much, much hotter with the idea that she was taking his freedom and power as opposed to him handing it over himself.

Having been corrected in his behavior, Danny set about the next designated tasks. First, a seven inch rainbow colored strap on cock was secured firmly to his madam. The only other item left was some warming lubricant, which prompted him to instinctively start dropping his new panties until a smack to the top of his snout shocked him into confusion. The woman holding his leash tugged somewhat roughly as she purred, "No, girl. Keep them on, just pull them to the side. You're hotter that way." The new instructions led the scantily clad dog to pull his lower covering off to the side to generously apply the clear solution designed for easing entry into his ass. All tasks completed, Danny went to assume his position on all fours, as the two had always done.

Since the recently sober "girl" hadn't been taken in any other manner, Autumn gave him a break and snapped into her normal, loving tone of voice, "No, sweetie. We're doing something different this time. I'm going to sit on the bed and you'll do the work." Still in possession of the lead attached to her lover, she pulled on it to communicate that it was time to move. Once again, she delighted in his obedient crawling on all fours and tingled with energy. As both parties fell into their respective spots, the skunk mistress fell back into her aggressive role by growling, "Hurry the fuck up, bitch. Mistress isn't in the mood to wait, and really take it this time."

The confident demands made by his girlfriend made Danny's cock twitch and begin to grow as he rose from his knees, turned around, and positioned his ass above the penetrating apparatus below. His woman clearly meant business this time, moreso than ever before, and no time was wasted before he sat on the tip and sank down onto it faster than ever with a high pitched whine. He had caused himself some pain, which had obviously been intended by his master, but even though it hurt, it still made him even harder. Grunts of adjustment reverberated throughout the bedroom, until a sharp sensation in his back appeared. "I didn't say you could make any fucking noise, did I?" Danny finally processed the bite and, while kicking his riding into full gear, begged for forgiveness, "I'm sorry mistress.... I didn't mean to... Please don't make me stop.."

Grinning wildly as she closed her eyes in ecstasy from the submission, Autumn spoke as she was clearly appeased, "Mmmmhhh... Such a good little bitch..You may continue, and make some noise to let me know you're enjoying yourself." A held breath was released from her slut's lungs in pleasure, "Gaaahhhnnnnhhh.... yes ma'am..." Danny's sounds of satisfying enjoyment immensely aroused the one in a position of power, and the sensations created by the motions, contact, and grazing against her thighs and breasts and between her legs. Autumn spread wider, which served to supply extra of greater stimulation and resulted in a beautiful sounding moaning.

Danny felt the artificial cock penetrating deep into him in combination with the growing warmth and extra feelings in the area. Little beads and droplets of pre cum dripped and streamed down his enlarged and fully hard dick that throbbed with every time Autumn's member slid it's way back inside of him. "Hnnnggg... fuck.. ahhhh.. I think...nnnn... I'm gonna cum...mm.." He whined to really drive his point across that not much time remained.

The words danced their way around and into Autumn's ears, and were absolute music to her. The skunky mistress LOVED making Danny blow his load from fucking him, and the effort he was putting in to please her made a rush course throughout her entire being. Lifting her arms up from her sides and wrapping them around the waist of the man riding her, she sensually moaned, "Good girl.. Let me help you." After this statement, she put in heavy effort into slamming him down, fully burying her cock in him, and humping furiously and eliciting a flurry of squeaks and gasps from the canine being fucked.

More and more intense, the approaching orgasm was indicated by the nearly breathless gasps and whines. Not much time passed until a wavering groans echoed in the room, letting Autumn know that Danny was shooting off and making his mess. Guiding him kindly, the canine was moved to the side so he could sit down and lay back panting in his temporarily disabled state.

Upon noticing enough of a recovery, Autumn addressed her bitch boi much more sweetly, "You're so hot baby." She grinned affectionately at at supine dog who returned the smile with a faint version of his own, with his eyes only halfway open. There was no response, as Danny was currently far too immersed in the chemical stew in his brain created by the explosive orgasm recently experienced. The skunk was actually quite satisfied, even without getting off with an orgasm. There was one last act she wished to perform with her lover. A slender white furred finger wiped up a tiny bit of Danny's slick ejaculate and murred, "Open up and stick out your tongue." She was met with widened eyes and an uncomfortable appearance as he absorbed the non request.

Once Danny had done as ordered, Autumn purred in contentment while spreading the man's own cum across his long, flat tongue. With the man grimacing in disgust at the new flavor and texture he was forced to experience, Autumn held up her hand to nonverbally tell him to hold in place, which was followed obediently. For only a couple of seconds did Danny have to remain stuck in place, before saying, "Okay baby, swallow. You did great!" It endlessly elated the mistress to observe an act that she found unbelievably sexy. To wrap everything up, Autumn snuggled up to her wonderful lover and life partner and passionately stroked his chest while delicately kissing him on his still wet face.

"I love you, Danny. I'm so happy you're back. You're mine forever." The honesty and soul-deep meaning was unambiguously communicated to her best friend in the world. Her violet eyes locked intensely with the canine's intoxicated looking silvery rings in a moment of the most pure level of connection that is possible. Her heart panged in response to the reply returned to her, "I love you too, Autumn. I'm happy I'm back too. I'd love to be yours forever!" She felt a moist nuzzling at her face and a teeny kiss to her nose which surprisingly resulted in an adorable blush. Only one more thing came to mind, "Mmm.. Good. Now. Let's get you some breakfast. You're gonna need it." A mischievous smirk flashed onto the black and white face, implying that their sexual activities were *far* from over.

Thanks so much for reading!